Excerpted from the February 2005 NESTTD Newsletter
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As the year 2005 begins, we are aware of ourselves as a global community, sharing our common reactions to the enormity of the Tsunami catastrophe that has led to such suffering and loss. We understand the profound affect this trauma will have on the psychological well-being of the surviving remnant of families and communities for years …and for generations to come.
Many of us search for antidotes to feelings of shock and helplessness. I have found myself comforted by reflecting on nature’s way of easing suffering, through the peritraumatic mechanisms of emotional numbing, out-of-body experience and natural analgesia or anesthesia.
I was set free…dissolved in the sea, became white sails and flying spray, became beauty and rhythm and the high dim-starred sky… (Eugene O’Neill)
Many of us have donated money, while a few have explored ways to visit that region to learn and to help face-to-face. George Rhoades, a clinical psychologist from Hawaii, who some of you may know from his frequent presentations at ISSD on ritualistic abuse, or in his capacity as list moderator of the ISSDWORLD listserve*, is traveling to Sri Lanka as part of a small aid organization, The Global Hope Network International (GHNI).
Some of us have responded by immersing ourselves in our own trauma practices and through increased commitments to sharing what we know about trauma and healing in our own region. In this newsletter Dr. Suzanne Hoffman addresses the subject of “suffering and the transformation of suffering” in her excellent and timely book review article on meditation, Buddhism and psychotherapy. We hope that you and your clients find it a helpful introduction and guide.
As we enter 2005, in line with NESTTD’s mission to make available the highest level of education in trauma and dissociation to our New England community, we are grateful to welcome a pioneer and leader in our field to work with us. When I embarked on my first literature search on dissociative disorders in a general hospital library in 1987, I was astonished to discover that most of the articles that I could find on the topic (true, there weren’t too many in total!) had been written by a single individual—a psychiatrist named Richard Kluft. And today, as I write this letter to you in my office, surrounded by my own trauma library—Kluft’s classic articles, chapters, and books on dissociation remain within close reach. In a cupboard are stacked audiotapes of Kluft’s lectures from ISSMP&D when, like many others, my only contact with others attempting to treat dissociation were at those Chicago conferences.
Listening to Kluft’s tapes in the late 80’s, I was impressed that he was determined to make clear that DID was not a rare and exotic disorder. In those years stating such a thing could expose one to ridicule. If memory serves, Thigpen and Cleckley, who were known for their case of “Eve”, still maintained at that time that the disorder was rare. Kluft also challenged the myth that DID could only be diagnosed and treated by an elite cadre of therapists. (He would insist, for example, that the necessary techniques could be taught to medical residents)! Most helpful was Kluft’s confident manner and his consummate ability to organize his teaching of technique within a secure treatment frame—providing reassuring structure to those of us who were entering this new and somewhat frightening terrain.
For those readers of this letter who are new to the field, it’s probably fair to say that studying Kluft’s contributions are an essential part of learning to treat complex trauma and dissociative clients! For those of us who have watched the modern study of dissociation unfold through the years, he also offers keen observations on current controversies and shifting trends in our field. We look forward to learning and sharing our own experience with him!
NESTTD in 2005 is a strong and vibrant organization. In December’s election, we increased the number of our board members and officers to a total of eleven members. We believe that the expanded Board will allow us to increase our effectiveness at outreach and support of state-of the-art education in trauma and dissociation. We congratulate and welcome new Board Members-at-Large Susan Aeschbach, Anette Brink, Mark Geer, Kari Gleiser and Deborah Rozelle. (Watch for them to be contacting you to join committees!) We are so pleased that our Board member Norah Lewis, has now become our President-Elect.
We also say a regretful good-bye those who have gone off the Board this year, Leigh Benowitz and Joanne Twombly. We are indebted to both Leigh and Joanne for their support and service to NESTTD.
Joanne, as President, brought her creativity and “can-do” attitude. She will continue to work with component societies such as our own at the national level of ISSD and we look forward to that continuing collaboration. And lest I forget, we thank Joanne for her comprehensive, “user-friendly” but sophisticated workshop covering safe space imagery, hypnosis and stabilization at our last quarterly meeting. We plan to print a summary of her presentation in a future newsletter.
Lastly, thanks to members of the Program Committee, who worked hard to help coordinate our December Members Appreciation and Networking Party—and to Richard Benowitz for the wonderful music!
With best wishes,
*ISSDWORLD is an international discussion list of ISSD members with a special interest in networking with trauma specialists from different countries---and in promoting a greater understanding of dissociative disorders and other trauma-related conditions around the globe.
If you are an ISSD member and wish to be subscribed to the ISSDWORLD listserve, or if you wish to learn more about the work of the Global Hope Network International you may email Dr. Rhoades at rhoades@pdhawaii.com.
PS To those who wish to join ISSD: It has come to my attention that a couple of our members have attempted to join ISSD online and were unable to get through. Please contact us if you run into this problem.